Local tension mounts against power company

April 19, 2013

CHARLES TOWN - Cathryn Jackson said she hadn't yet moved into her trailer when she received an electric bill for $600. The Harpers Ferry resident, who has been living next door to the home for six months, said she set the thermostat below 50 degrees all winter and only kept a small light burning as a deterrent.

Jackson was one of many who attended a public forum Thursday night hosted by the Jefferson County NAACP to discuss issues surrounding Potomac Edison's billing changes and meter readings.

"Their explanation to me was they estimated it for two months, and then we had a hurricane and they couldn't come. And then we had bad weather and they couldn't come," Jackson said of her conversations with the company. "I said, 'Then why didn't you come when the weather was good?' They didn't have an answer."

Article Photos

Journal photos by Rachel Molenda

Lyn Widmyer, of the Jefferson County Commission, speaks during a public meeting regarding billing and meter reading issues with Potomac Edison. A public forum hosted by the Jefferson County NAACP was held Thursday night in Charles Town to allow citizens to discuss their experiences.

Former Delegate John Doyle, of Shepherdstown, speaks during a public meeting regarding billing and meter reading issues with Potomac Edison.

Other residents said they thought the company's billing cycle was inconsistent. Two neighbors who live across the street from one another said they have a two-day difference between their bills.

Potomac Edison issued a statement last week explaining changes in its billing cycle, as well as with how meters are read. This is a concern for many customers, as they say their billing periods were either shortened or lengthened by a significant amount.

"My bill is normally (due) on the 18th and so at the beginning of this week I go online to pay my bill online and it says, 'Oh, your bill was due on the 10th,'" said Keryn Newman, of Shepherdstown.

Local entities are considering getting involved. While Lyn Widmyer said she was attending the meeting simply as a resident, the Jefferson County commissioner said she thought the group ought to take up the issue.

""This is just one part of the rate increases people in our county are facing," Widmyer said. "It's not only the consumers. It's businesses. We're trying to bring businesses into the county, and we have to make sure that the utility rates are fair and competitive."

Warren Stewart, a member of the Jefferson County NAACP, echoed Widmyer's concerns about rising utility costs.

"It has a disproportionate affect on minorities, senior citizens - people of fixed income, which is a good portion of the population here in West Virginia," Stewart said of the organization's motivation to organize the meeting.

In addition to the billing issue, residents also discussed Potomac Edison parent company FirstEnergy's proposal to purchase the Harrison power station, which is located in Haywood, W.Va.

The proposal was submitted to the West Virginia Public Service Commission last year.

The transaction would cost the FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power - which serves the Morgantown area - and Potomac Edison about $1.1 billion, according to FirstEnergy. The company claims transferring full ownership of the plant to Mon Power, which currently owns 20 percent, will "remedy Mon Power's existing generation supply shortfall," according to the company.

The West Virginia Sierra Club doesn't see the transaction as beneficial to West Virginians, said organizer Danny Chiotos, who represented the organization at Thursday's meeting.

Chiotos said the $1.1 bill is "an incredibly high price" for the Harrison plant and he said it would be an internal sale, requiring the company's West Virginia subsidiaries purchase the plant from those it has in Ohio.

"First Energy is selling it to First Energy," Chiotos said. "They're looking to make out from your increased bills."

Rates would increase six percent across the board to fund the purchase and stay high for the next 20 years, Chiotos said.

"This locks us into owning a large coal-fired power plant for the next 27 years," Chiotos said. "That's something to think about when coal is getting more expensive."

Patience Wait, of Stop PATH - an organization that rallied against the Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline - also spoke about issues that might arise from the proposed transaction. Wait said during her remarks that it isn't impossible for citizens to make their concerns known.

"We showed that you can stand up to the power companies and you can win," Wait said. "The reason we were able to do that is because we had lots of people standing up and making noise about it."